Taurus Tracker .41 mag blow up

[Cottonwood]

I just had a friend bring his Taurus Tracker .41 Mag over, he was using Winchester Super X 210-gr JHP factory ammo.  He was lucky that he did not suffer injury as a result when 3 chambers blew and the top strap.  It took him time to find what was left as he collected what he could.

He has already contacted Taurus and is sending the Tracker back into them.  I told him, that Taurus doesn't make this .41 Mag Tracker any longer so I do not know how they can fix this for him.  I told him that they may offer him a new gun in a differant caliber such as a .44 Mag. 

It's anyones guess

[stimpylu32]

I've seen that happen twice before , once with a S&W 357 mag and the other a Ruger Black Hawk in 44 mag , In both cases it was from a bad handload , do you have any idea how many rounds he had through the gun before this happened ? and what type ?

The reason I ask is that even Trackers don't just fail like that for no reason , something went very wrong and my first look would be the ammo , maybe not those rounds but the ones before and yes even factory ammo can have a double charge , granted it does not happen much but it does happen , I've even gotten factory rounds with no primers before . Photoeyes and human inspectors are not perfect .

The important part is that he was not hurt badly as it could have been much worse .

stimpy

[Graybeard]

My .45 Colt Tracker Ti had a crack in the top strap just about where that one came apart when I first got it. I returned it to them unfired and they returned it to me without repair. I returned it again with some clear tape on the spot and a line drawn to show them where the crack was and finally got a replacement for it. I never fired that first one as I sorta felt it might do what this one did. It took some persistence on my part but they did finally replace it.

[stimpylu32]

Bill 

That very well could be the cause , never thought about that , I've owned 3 Trackers over the years a 357 , 44 and 45LC , sold off the 357 and 44 but still have the 45 with over 5000 rounds down barrel with out the first hick-up .

These things happen and the bad part is you just never know when , the reason I wear shooting glasses . 

Richard

[Cottonwood]

Well I changed my first post on this to reflect that I am not going to blame Taurus, but the Winchester ammo used as a problem with factory QC.  Now it could be one like Bill got that was never seen.  This was the first time this Tracker was to the range and blew on the 3rd round fired.  So it will be up to Matt that owner of the Tracker to send it in, or hang it on the wall or use it as a paper weight.

I used to own a Tracker 44C but had sold it off before this occured and do not own any other Taurus handguns any longer.

As you can see here, it can happen evan to the best of Rugers:

[warrior1]

thanks for the post i've got the same tracker, and i'm going to look it over to be sure no cracks are present. dan

[djw]

As you can see here, it can happen evan to the best of Rugers:

C'mon, you can't post a picture like that without some background!

Regarding the Taurus .41, I'd be real curious to know if the first two rounds cleared the barrel.  I'd also be curious to know what happened to the rest of the box of ammo.

Just trying to post mortem...

Don

[Cottonwood]

The first two rounds did clear the barrel on the Tracker, the 3rd round is the one that KB'd.  From what I understand from the owner of the Tracker, the ammo was sent to Winchester.

On the Ruger SRH all I and the person I got the pic from know is that it was an over charged load from someone that just wanted to push more out of a Ruger.... it happens to the best of them.

[djw]

... just wanted to push more out of a Ruger...

Well, he got his wish.

Thanks for the response.

Don

[dakotashooter2]

Was he able to recover the brass case? I'd be curious to know if the primer was hit dead center or on its edge. Had an issue with the first one I owned that when fired DA it would sometimes fail to lock up. The firing pin would hit the casehead right next to the primer due to the chamber not being aligned.I'm sure it would have a similar effect. Possible this gun may have had a similar issue.

I have come to view Taurus guns as a "diamond in the rough". Well, maybe not a diamond. If you can take the time to polish and smooth them up you can salvage a decent gun out of them.

[SwampThing762]

I just checked the website, and the Winchester website does not list a 210- grain load for the 41 Mag.  They do list a 240 grain PTHP load that is hotter than the Winny 44 mag loads i shoot through mine.   Also, Taurus lists the top load for a 41 Mag Tracker is a 210 gr bullet at 1300 fps.  perhaps the load exceed the safety tolerance. I just thought I would mention this for  info purposes.

[Cottonwood]

I just checked the website, and the Winchester website does not list a 210- grain load for the 41 Mag.  They do list a 240 grain PTHP load that is hotter than the Winny 44 mag loads i shoot through mine.   Also, Taurus lists the top load for a 41 Mag Tracker is a 210 gr bullet at 1300 fps.  perhaps the load exceed the safety tolerance. I just thought I would mention this for  info purposes.

Up date on the blown up 41. Magnum Tracker - Taurus is replacing for FREE this and will deal with Winchesters QC problem

Winchester has been having some real issues with other firearms as well, the Tracker KB was a Winchester ammo issue.

[dawei]

Up date on the blown up 41. Magnum Tracker - Taurus is replacing for FREE this and will deal with Winchesters QC problem

Winchester has been having some real issues with other firearms as well, the Tracker KB was a Winchester ammo issue.

Are they replacing w/a 41 or a 44Magnum?

[Cottonwood]

Up date on the blown up 41. Magnum Tracker - Taurus is replacing for FREE this and will deal with Winchesters QC problem

Winchester has been having some real issues with other firearms as well, the Tracker KB was a Winchester ammo issue.

Are they replacing w/a 41 or a 44Magnum?

That is between the owner of the .41 Magnum and Taurus.